The Fiery Crown Cycle: A Dragon's Rebirth

Chapter 80

The girl's slender, white hand rested on Aiden's head, her fingers tracing the lines between his scales. Her eyes, glittering like a starry sky, held something that felt unnervingly like… tenderness.

Aiden felt a primal urge to snap at this human, who looked as fragile as paper, to reject the sensation of being patted on the head like a hatchling.

But he didn't dare. Nor could he.

The hand on his head looked delicate, but that was an illusion. It was heavy. Impossibly so. From the moment she placed it on his snout, it felt as though an entire cosmos was pressing down on him. Aiden strained to lift his head, but it would not budge. It did not even tremble.

An image of a foolish white dragon flashed through his memory. So this is what Bianca felt. He felt the same desire to resist, but the gap in their power was an immeasurable abyss. Submission was not a choice; it was an inevitability.

It was an infuriating feeling. Utterly so.

Red flames began to coalesce above his head, casting a crimson sheen on the girl's lustrous, silver-white hair. She didn't look up, her gaze remaining fixed on his snout, but the hand that had been stroking his scales lifted. Her slender palm waved gently at the inferno.

As if snuffing out a match, her seemingly weightless gesture instantly extinguished the fire he had summoned. The power swelling within him vanished, like air from a punctured balloon. Aiden's pupils widened in disbelief.

The dragon and the girl remained in silence. The fingers on his head stilled.

“How did you realize it wasn't real?” the girl asked.

“My former master… she harbored feelings for me,” Aiden replied, “but she would never be so bold. The succubus was too forward, its seduction lacking the subtlety of genuine restraint.”

A flicker of understanding passed through the girl's star-like eyes. It seemed she recognized her mistake.

“Why have you done this? I don't believe we have met,” Aiden asked.

“A simple test, born from a moment of curiosity,” she answered. “How does it feel? Your reincarnation from human to dragon.”

“A welcome rebirth,” Aiden said, growing accustomed to this bizarre interrogation.

“Have you been to my world of origin? To Earth?” he asked.

“I have. It is a plane with no strategic value, from my perspective.”

“And the Fiery Crown?” she asked. “Your thoughts on its power?”

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“Immense.”

“Is this Crown a work of the Sequence?” Aiden pressed.

“It is the Ninth Sequence.”

“So, will you accept it?”

“I don't know. Is this power yours to give?”

“I made it.”

“Will you accept it?” she repeated.

“There is no reward without a price,” Aiden said. “If I accept this power, what is the cost?”

“Nothing. You will give nothing.” Her star-filled eyes met his red, slitted ones. “I will not interfere in your choices. By the name of Providence, I will take nothing from you, and you will lose nothing.”

The girl tilted her head, her silver hair cascading down, her impossibly deep eyes gazing at him.

“So, will you accept?”

“You seem to want this. Why?” Aiden asked. “What do you gain?”

“A scion.”

The names of such beings were laws unto themselves, binding even the gods. Could he trust her? He was trapped in a sub-plane, with no guarantee of surviving the coming rite of life sacrifice. He had no choice. He never had. Even if this was all her design, he was powerless to resist.

“I accept.”

The two hands on his head stilled. He met her gaze, and her expression changed to something he could not comprehend. If he had to describe it, it was the look of a mother gazing upon her newborn child.

Her slender hand reached for the crown of flames, and the fire instantly surged. His draconic body began to expand, power greater and more potent than ever before flooding his being.

But this time, the flames did not form the ephemeral Fiery Crown. Instead, they converged upon the girl's outstretched right hand, condensing, slowly constructing a solid, burning red crown. Unlike before, this crown was made of physical metal, its thorns wreathed in scorching fire.

Aiden stared at it, cradled in her hands. So this is its true form.

The crown descended and was placed upon his head. The girl released her hands. The crown did not rest there, but instead sank slowly into his skull, vanishing within.

In an instant, his world changed.

Red. A world of burning red.

He stood upon crimson earth, turning in a slow circle. The white figure was gone. The sky was red. The ground was red. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but scorched, cracked earth.

Ahead, a creature of roiling, crimson flame floated above the ground. It was coming toward him. A grin split his maw, his hind legs coiled, his wings opened slightly, ready to pounce. But the flame creature drifted past, fifty yards away, ignoring him completely. Did it not see me?

Aiden followed its path and saw another flame creature appear. The two beings charged, engaging in the most primitive of battles—tearing, biting, wrestling. One was victorious. As the victor crouched to devour the loser, the earth beneath Aiden trembled violently.

He lifted his head. The red heavens were now filled with countless dark red chains, their numbers growing by the second.

“CHIIII!”

With a piercing cry, a great red bird, its size rivaling a mountain range, soared toward the sky, illuminating the heavens with its fire.

But its brilliance was short-lived. The innumerable dark red chains swarmed it, entangling the great bird, dragging it down, overwhelming it.

“Chiii…”

With a final, mournful cry, the great bird went still.

“ROAR!”

One earth-shattering roar followed another. A giant bear wreathed in flame, a titan of fire, another great bird… They charged together at the chains that had now almost completely covered the sky.

It was a slaughter. Soon, all had been dragged into the writhing mass.

The dust settled.

His world spun.

The next second, Aiden was back in the void. He lifted his left claw, his cold, slitted pupils staring at the fire now flowing like blood between the scales.

In that moment, Aiden finally understood. The Fiery Crown was not forged from mere fire. It was forged from the fury of dying gods, the rage of consumed worlds, and the chained souls of the vanquished.